Crabtree on 49ers’ WR additions: ‘You need that depth at receiver’

Michael Crabtree is keeping track of his daily battles in practice with Pro Bowl cornerback Carlos Rogers. There is a caveat to those tallies: Crabtree puts himself down for a victory each day before they even take the practice field.

It’s all in good fun, a friendly competition, Crabtree says.

Aside from their good-natured trash talk, Rogers had plenty of praise Wednesday for the 49ers’ fourth-year receiver, noting that Crabtree “looks a lot faster” and “understands defenses a lot better to see how to get open.”

This camp isn’t just about Crabtree vs. Rogers, however. Crabtree is surrounded by a deeper receiving corps, and he endorsed a wave of additions that’s included Randy Moss, Mario Manningham and rookie A.J. Jenkins, the first wide receiver the 49ers have drafted in the first round since Crabtree in 2009.

Although Crabtree spoke to the media last week in an impromptu session outside the locker room, Wednesday marked his first trip to the media tent and this is what he had to say:

Carlos Rogers says you look faster. Is that true?

He said, ‘Looks?’

Yes, that you look faster.

“I’ve been in competition with Carlos since I started camp. I’ve got a little tab on my locker, of how many days I won, how many he lost. So I’m keeping tabs. I’m winning right now. I’ll try to keep it like that.”

Are you faster this year and is it something you’ve worked on this offseason?

“It’s limited on injury. You’ve got a foot injury and you’re pushing to go full speed to go fast enough to play. My feet are good right now, I’m out there running.”

How do you determine who wins the daily battle with Carlos?

“Obviously I’ve got to catch every pass. I can’t let him knock the ball down. We don’t really face each other that much out there. Whenever I’m out there against him, I count that as a win. It’s good competition, a friendly competition. We’re really just making each other better, making the practice more enjoyable.”

Does he get a chance to dispute your tally?

“Every day. It’s on the board. I write it down before I go out, so I say I won already. It’s all fun and games.”

Do you keep tabs with any other defensive back?

“No, just Carlos right now. He’s the only one that does a lot of talking. We’re having fun out here.”

Before your calf injury, did you feel faster?

“Really just working hard. Got a good training staff, good strength and conditioning program out here. Those guys are real good at working on things you really need and things you need to focus on, which is speed, power and quickness. I just use them.

Carlos also thought you may have lost weight. Is that true?

“No, I way weigh the same. That’s the crazy thing. I probably gained a little more muscle. That’s about it.”

What excites you about your role in the offense?

“Everything. It’s football, you know. Every day I’m looking to do something new, not the same old routes that I’ve been doing the whole camp or last year or the year before that. Just trying to do something new. Just trying to fit in with the rest of the guys we have: Moss, Teddy, Manningham, K-Dub. All those guys are out here competing and going hard. I just really feel I need to fit in and have fun. Wherever I fit in, make plays, whether I’m inside or outside.”

Since the season ended, lots of reports said the 49ers needed to add receivers. Was that a challenge to you personally?

“Not at all. It’s a team. We added running backs, receivers, a quarterback looks good. It’s just how the game goes. I don’t think one receiver is enough. You don’t know what will happen in a season, guys will go down. For instance, last year we had four or five guys at the beginning. At the end of the season, it was just me, Brett Swain and my guy, Joe, Joe Hastings. You need that depth at receiver.”

Your coach said you have the best hands he’s ever seen on a receiver. Is there pressure to live up to that?

“Not at all, man. Just be yourself. Go out there and try to catch every pass. It’s not too much pressure.”

Do you have the best hands ever?

“I don’t know man. I’m just going to go out there and be me. If that’s what people say, that’s what people say. I’m just going to play.”

How much work goes into making a catch look effortless?

“It’s really focus. Most of the drops come from not focusing, not seeing the ball. If you can’t see the ball, you can’t catch it. You take your eye off the ball, you’re not going to catch it. It’s just focus.”

Carlos says you have a unique ability to catch the ball without your eye. Is he wrong?

“I don’t know what Carlos is saying. He’s just saying all kinds of things. I just practice on catching balls every day.”

You’re going back to Houston on Saturday, which is where you made your 49er debut. How have you changed in your three-plus years?

“I’ve grown a lot. Just really going on my fourth year, that’s crazy. Each year I get better and better, stronger and stronger. Learn how to be a pro. Just learn from guys. There’ve been a lot of talent around me since I’ve been here, especially at receiver; a lot of old guys, Isaac Bruce, guys I’ll take anything from. If I can learn anything from those guys, I’m taking it and putting it down in my notepad and running with it.”

By playing in your first preseason game, do you feel farther ahead this summer than in the past?

“It’s preseason, man. Just being around, and not being injured right now, it’s always a plus.”

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Cam Inman

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Seems that he is dissing on Kyle Williams to me. Before we got Moss, the punt fumbler was our most reliable receiver. Crabtree is high. It is good to have an ego in sports, but you have to earn it, he hasn’t. This guy shouldn’t be talking trash about how great he is, but instead trying to prove that he isn’t a huge draft bust. I still say they trade him to a Texas team before they realize he has little value.

mglt6710

My takeaway from this interview — good questions, though Crabtree went out of his way to not say anything of value, IMO — Crabtree does tend to highlight his skillset. After 4 years, featuring NO, that is, NO pre-season play for a variety of reasons, and a mediocre season this past season, at best, including major drops in the playoffs, this guy has zip, zero, and nada to brag about.

I want a couple of tokes of whatever Coach Harbaugh was smoking when he said that this guy had the best receiver hands in football. As far as any of us can tell, this guy has a big mouth with nothing to show for it, which is not a good combination. I gotta believe that this is his season to finally come around, right? Good thing we have M & M at the ready.